2MZ create Alupanel pavilion at London Design Festival

14/09/2015

2MZ create Alupanel pavilion at London Design Festival

Brixton based design studio 2MZ have collaborated with Black Cultural Archives to transform the heritage centre’s courtyard for Brixton Design Trail, part of the London Design Festival 2015 (19th to 27th September).

Using Alupanel Aluminium Composite, supplied by Perspex Distribution, specialist designers 2MZ have designed a modern twist on a Georgian pavilion. 2MZ have taken elements of these traditional structures, such as colonnades and arches, and used contemporary materials and colours, including Alupanel mirror and anthracite grey to create a space which will immerse visitors in reflection, pattern and illusion.

Pleasure Garden is inspired by the forthcoming BCA exhibition, The Black Georgians, which will retell the narrative of Black people in Georgian Britain. It will challenge preconceptions of Black presence in Britain at that time, as though Black people’s daily lives were fraught with oppression and restriction, there was also a degree of social mobility and integration.

During the period Londoners from all backgrounds mingled in the city’s pleasure gardens, which were one of the few public spaces where a more liberal atmosphere reigned. Often the focal points of these gardens were the classical pavilions.

2MZ founder Lloyd Touwen said, ‘Brixton is a vibrant place, so it made sense to look around us for colour inspiration – Ghanian kente cloth was the starting point for the combinations we have used. The patterns include elements of BCA’s distinctive logo and others are patterns that we have been developing over the years. The multiple reflections from the mirrored aluminium composite surfaces play on The Black Georgians exhibition encouraging visitors to question whether things are always as they seem.’

Pleasure Garden can be explored from 22nd September.

2MZ is a specialist design and fabrication company founded in Brixton over 10 years ago. For more information visit www.2mz.co.uk.